


Purposeful Mistakes

by diggingupthegrave



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Avatar State, Bending (Avatar), Earthbending & Earthbenders, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Firebending & Firebenders, Healing, Multi, New Avatar (Avatar TV), Post-Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Republic City, Slow Burn, Spirit World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:02:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29809515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diggingupthegrave/pseuds/diggingupthegrave
Summary: The search for the new Avatar didn’t last long. Hori was discovered at the ripe age of five, already able to bend both fire and water with ease. The fine tooth combing of the Earth Kingdom had promptly ended, and Hori was heralded as the world’s new symbol of unity.He was sixteen when he discovered it was all a lie.Lyssa, born on the very same day, was the most standard of Earth Kingdom girls. Untrained and lacking confidence, she had already resigned herself to a life of hiding her bending abilities, sure that the universe had made a mistake in giving them to her. The world already had an Avatar. But when disaster strikes, her real identity becomes impossible to hide, and Lyssa and Hori both have to deal with the consequences.She’s terrified. He’s furious. And to make matters worse, the Avatar press team is insisting they get along.
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

He couldn’t even hate her. 

When they first met, or rather when he first met _her_ , Hori had tried his very best to despise her and found it completely unsatisfying. The girl who was _supposed_ to be challenging his place in the world looked completely pathetic, wide-eyed and hollowed out. She was sitting alone outside the inner offices of the local White Lotus branch, still wearing her school uniform even a full twenty-four hours after the attack. A green, pleated skirt-set with gold trim, knee socks, and patent leather shoes. If you looked past the obvious distress, the fraying of the ribbon that kept her blazer fastened and the tears on her sleeves, she was the perfect image of a modern Earth Kingdom girl. 

She was everything they had wanted Hori to be. Her tied-up hair was honey brown instead of his own shade of jet black. Her eyes were such a rich shade of green, he actually found himself wondering if they had once belonged to Avatar Kyoshi herself. 

Hori’s path to becoming the Avatar had been swift. He barely remembered a time before he was being trained to take up the mantle of being the world’s symbol of unity- and it’s greatest weapon. It wasn’t until later in life that he understood he was an anomaly. Why people in the Earth Kingdom hated him _so much_ that they’d spit on the ground when he passed them. Korra’s replacement was never supposed to come from the Fire Nation, but there Hori was- bending more than one element and looking as much like the heir apparent as anyone had thought possible. 

He was so _angry_. He had every right to be. He’d spent years of his life killing himself to achieve a goal that had _never once_ been possible. Felt inadequate for more than a decade due to his constant inability. No matter how hard he tried and trained, he could never bend air or earth. Couldn’t astral project into the spirit world. Couldn’t flicker into the avatar state for one measly second. They’d let him feel like a failure _all this time_ and it wasn’t _even his fault_. 

It was hers. 

But when he first laid eyes upon her, it didn't even take a second for his resolve to fade. He sees the haunted look in her eyes and the fire in him dissolves, his heart dropping into his stomach. She looked so small, so helpless. Even though Hori knew they’d been born at the same time, right down to the day, she seemed somehow younger. Like she was a fragile, precious thing instead of the unchecked rage monster who had just destroyed her home in an epic misuse of the avatar state. 

Her parents- no, her grand-parents- had been killed in a home invasion gone wrong. Hori had been briefed on the situation before anyone had confirmed what she was, and was already en-route before the news could reach them. She came home from school to find her only relations dead and bloodied, and had gone into a frenzy, her bending creating several tremors in the remote earth-kingdom town as she lashed out against the attackers. Hori had been sent to help restrain her as a preventive measure in case the Special-Force Benders that had arrived on the scene couldn’t handle it. The reports made her out to be irrational and uncontrollable, a threat that needed to be neutralized. They didn’t mention her anguish or the wear in her tear-stained face. 

Hers was the face of someone who’s life had just been completely ripped away from them. If Lyssa had looked up to meet his gaze, she might have seen the same face reflected back at her, but fortunately for Hori, she never did. He breezed right by her, unable to tolerate her presence any longer. 

  
“Get her some fresh clothes. Take something from my personal effects if you must.” Is all Hori had managed to say. It was the last order he’d give before being sent home on mandatory personal leave for the next month. _We don’t know what your role will be going forward_ , they had told him, _but we think it’s important you take some time to process this news before you can usefully contribute to this transition_. 

_Fuck your transition_ , is what Hori had wanted to say. But he nodded curtly and took his leave, silently cursing himself for so exemptly showcasing the ideals of respect and level-headedness they’d spent years instilling in him. He hadn’t even made it the full way back to his parent’s house in the Fire Nation before he had decided he’d be back. That he’d help in any way they’d let him. It was as if he had no other choice. Even if he wasn’t the Avatar, he’d always been in service to its cause. That was his life. Nothing else mattered. 

Maybe Hori was a fool, nothing but a life-long imposter, but he was also the only one who had the training that the new Avatar would need. 

  
  


***

The place was a freaking _shrine_ to Hori Hikoshi. No one had thought to take down any of the commemorative memorabilia before Lyssa had arrived. Actually, it had been weeks and they _still_ hadn’t thought to take any of it down- it wasn’t like they had much to replace it with, after all. Lyssa couldn’t help but worry that maybe they never would. 

The news about her hadn’t gotten out to the public yet, and perhaps it never would. Maybe the members of the White Lotus would decide she was inadequate and continue to back Hori instead. If they did, there wouldn’t be much Lyssa could do about it. The people loved Hori. They trusted him, idolized him even. Lyssa herself was so taken by him that she’d actually spent the better part of her life believing he really _was_ the Avatar. Cycle or not, he’d have been the better choice. It wasn’t even a question. He’d spent the last decade winning everyone over. 

Meanwhile, Lyssa had spent her month-long residency as the new Avatar doing nothing but colossally disappointing every single one of her new teachers. When they’d heard she already had a handle on every single one of the elements, they’d looked at her with thrilled, wild eyes. For a moment she’d let herself think that maybe she really _had_ been what they were looking for. But it became pretty clear to everyone involved that the extent of her bending skills were small potatoes almost immediately. 

How could they be anything but? It wasn’t like she could have practiced out in the open. She’d spent her life watching bending tapes on low volume after her grandparents had gone to sleep and practicing quietly in their old barn. The videos she had been able to get her hands on didn’t show you how to do any of the powerful stuff, that information was dangerous to release to the public in a wide-format. So Lyssa knew new-age parlor tricks. The bending equivalent of doing a trick on a sledboard. Her instructors knew old-world, big-league bending- the kind that was shown in movies about, well… past avatars. 

Lyssa was getting her ass handed to her. Agomi, her water-bending teacher, was _literally_ raining down on her. Lyssa could barely block and avoid her assault, nevermind look for an opening to launch her own attack. Lyssa is redirecting a rush of water when she feels dark, glossy eyes cutting across the field and landing on her. She meets the intense glare with genuine wonder, suddenly completely transfixed. His body was relaxed, slumped against the walls of the compound boredly, ink-black hair falling naturally over his pale forehead. Lyssa instantly forgets where she is, what she’s supposed to be doing. 

“Watch out.” Hori says flatly, expression unchanging as a massive wave slaps Lyssa to the ground. 

She recovers poorly, sitting up on all fours while coughing and sputtering. Suddenly soaked, Lyssa sloppily pulls her hair out of her face- Agomi’s force had been enough to rip the tie right out of it. She doesn’t need to see herself to know that she must look as pitiful as a wet, shaking dog-monkey. 

Lyssa had always wondered how she’d meet Hori Hikoshi and now she finally had her answer. It wasn’t how she’d imagined it, but it seemed fitting. She doesn’t dare look up at him again, but she feels the water being lifted from her training clothes, gently bent out and deposited back in the water stores beneath them. Lyssa doesn’t check to make sure, but she knows it must be Hori’s doing. Agomi would let her stay sopping wet if she had her way.

“Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you, Agomi.” His voice continues to give nothing away.

“Yeah?” Agomi asks, surprising Lyssa with her light tone. Lyssa had never heard her use her voice to do anything but yell instructions or corrections. The familiarity she recognizes Hori with makes Lyssa realize that Agomi is much younger than her other teachers, maybe only a few years older than they were. “You don’t think I could beat you so decisively?” 

“Only because I’m out of practice.” He retorts with a glint. 

“Glad to see you’re back, kid.” She says easily. “We’re going to need all the help we can get.” She gestures to Lyssa with her head- as if Lyssa wasn’t listening and fully understanding her meaning. Would Hori… really be helping with her training? 

With that, Agomi turns her back on them, hightailing it out of there and leaving the two of them alone. Lyssa doesn’t blame her, if she had any way of avoiding whatever collision was about to occur, she’d have taken it too. The new avatar and the old, together in one place. This was bound to happen at some point, but Lyssa still wasn’t ready for it. She takes a moment to collect herself, catching her breath before she dares to meet his eyes again.

“You look like shit.” He says, slicing through the thick silence. It was peaceful here at the training grounds, safe and secluded. Lyssa was still perplexed by it all, but Hori looked completely at home- not nearly as stiff as he appeared to be in interviews and pictures. It was unsettling.

“Thanks.” Lyssa mumbles, standing up and wringing out her hair. She’d certainly never heard the avatar, or whatever it is he was now, swear. In spite of herself, she actually finds it kind of charming. He was human like everyone else. That was good. 

“You’re hurt.” He announces, his eyes fixed on her arm. She looks down and is met with a few red, angry lines forming on her forearm. She must have scraped it against the ground on her way down and not even felt it. “Come here, I’ll fix it up for you.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry ab-”

“Sit.” He commands, cutting her off. For whatever reason, she obeys, wandering on wobbly knees to the bench he’s settled on to. A month ago, when this had all started, every bench had been full of watchful eyes during training sessions, anxious to see how the new avatar would progress. It didn’t take long for the crowd to thin- everyone here was past exasperated with her. She sits down next to him, careful to leave a safe distance between them. 

She still couldn’t believe it. How was it possible that she could be here, next to Hori Hikoshi? The world’s most famous person, the boy that all the girls in Lyssa’s school had fawned over and dreamed of marrying, the _freaking avatar_ . But he wasn’t. Not anymore. The revelation certainly hadn’t deflated his ego, and Lyssa still found him no less larger than life. _You’re so lucky, Lyssa_ , classmates used to tell her, _you have the same birthday as the avatar_. What would they say to her now? 

With ease and precision, he streams a small bubble of water over to them, snaking it around her raw, patchy arm. It starts to glow a fluorescent teal color as he ebbs the water back and forth, the water coming to life as he manipulates it. The gesture feels strangely intimate, not to mention unnecessary- it was just a scrape, after all. Lyssa couldn’t quite figure out what it all meant. Why was he being so nice to her?

“We’re not friends.” He clarifies, reading her mind. “I’m here because you need me, not because I need you. Nor will I, in any capacity, _ever_ need you- not as a person or as an avatar. I am here as an agent of The Order of The White Lotus. I am bound to its sacred mission, not to _you_. Is that clear?” 

_Crystal_ , Lyssa thinks, but her throat catches before she can actually say anything. His voice is low, but still as solid as steel. This was the Hori she’d been expecting, at least in some capacity- the stoney, honor-bound avatar she’d spent her childhood admiring. They were the same age, but he had always seemed so much older, a perfect picture of strength both then and now. Lyssa hated to think they could ever be on opposite sides- she’d never stand a chance against him. 

“I appreciate your being here.” Lyssa finally tells him, resisting the urge to bite back against his harshness. Her strength had never been in fighting back, but in avoiding fights altogether. She had meant what she said though. If he was willing to help, she was grateful for it. This couldn’t be easy for him- his life had just been completely uprooted, and it had been all Lyssa’s fault. “I’m sorry. For the way this all happened.” 

“Don’t be sorry,” He snaps, getting up with a start. “Be better.” 

He strides away, and predictably he doesn’t look back. So this was Hori Hikoshi. He was even more amazing than Lyssa had given him credit for, and that was saying something. How could she ever hope to measure up?


	2. Chapter 2

That same night, they’re all called into a meeting. 

Lyssa still found the whole White Lotus brigade to be dodgy and mysterious, but if there was one thing she’d learned about them from her time there it was that they didn’t waste any time. Lyssa and Hori are seated on opposite ends of the table, which Lyssa is fairly certain isn’t an accident, but is a mistake nonetheless. Hori seethes from across the table, calm on the surface but bubbling like a volcano underneath. Lyssa could tell her presence was irritating him- which she couldn’t really blame him for, but it didn’t exactly put her at ease either. 

Luckily for them, a distraction is ushered into the room, giving them something to do other than actively avoid eye contact. The stylish, emerald green-adorned young woman is introduced to Lyssa as Tasti, the Avatar’s head of public relations. Lyssa hadn’t really been aware that the avatar _needed_ a head of public relations, but she supposed it made sense. With the rise of tabloids and television news, the avatar’s life was more a part of everyone’s lives than ever before. Hori had been in the press just as much as any other kind of celebrity, if not more, but unlike the rest of them, Lyssa had never once heard a bad word uttered about him. Was he that untouchable, or was this woman just really good at her job? 

“So I understand that your training is getting on rather less well than you’d hoped?” The woman says, breezing past Lyssa on her way to the front of the room. 

“Well, I wouldn’t-”

“That’s not a question.” Agomi interrupts, chiming in from a couple seats down. When Lyssa looks up, Hori is shooting her a warning glance, which she can only interpret as a suggestion to keep her mouth shut. She knew he was probably right, but Lyssa had always had a compulsive need to fill silence, and the White Lotus members gathered around the table often provided nothing but. Still, she resolves to stop talking until someone’s asked her something directly again. 

“So we already know what the biggest problem we're facing is, image-wise. Hori’s popularity numbers are off-the-charts, and his recent absence from the press is starting to turn heads. I’ve killed a few exploratory pieces about it, but we don’t have long till some of the bigger outlets start picking up on it. I’ve figured out how we can buy ourselves some time, but we’ll have to act quickly.”

No one responds to her. Lyssa teeters, wondering if she’s expected to contribute to this, but is grateful when Tasti plows ahead.

“We have to announce something, an event or a press conference, and get it on the books so no one starts to get suspicious. I think we have a week, two at most, before people would start to get restless. I can put this together easily and I’ll make sure the right people are there with the right questions, but unfortunately the success of all this is really going to hang on the two of you.” She eyes Lyssa and Hori from across the room. Lyssa feels her stomach start to churn with the realization that she’ll actually have to get up on a stage and talk to people- not just as Lyssa, but as _the avatar_. 

“The good news is that the people trust Hori. They won’t like this… development,” She says, her eyes flicking to Lyssa before she continues, “but if Hori sets the tone for it- a willing and peaceful transition- it’s likely that they’ll accept it. Especially if they know that he’ll be, how do I put this gently… _intimately_ involved.”

So the brunt of this would fall on Hori? It didn’t seem fair that he’d have to be the one shouldering this and putting on a happy face when it was _his life_ that had just been monstrously disrupted. When she peaks over at him though, he looks unfazed by it all. Had he already known to expect this? There was so much about how this all worked that Lyssa didn’t understand at all. Without Hori’s help, maybe she never would.

“This week I’ll need some time set aside to work with both of them, make sure they’re fully prepared for whatever questions might be thrown their way. The main goal is to see them both _together-_ happy and smiling, side-by-side, peaceful transition of power. Maybe… the two of you are even holding hands!” Lyssa can tell by the tone of her voice that her _maybe_ means anything but. 

“Wh- what?” Lyssa sputters before she can stop herself. She couldn’t be serious, right?

“Just for the cameras of course! We’ll call it… a _showing of support_.” She says lightly. Lyssa is sure that Hori will seem at least a little put-off by this, if not straight up-pissed, but when she looks over he’s as calm as ever. No, that wasn’t it, Lyssa recognized this face- the calmness, the placation, the _charm_. This wasn’t Hori, it was the persona he put on for the press. Maybe he needed it within the walls of the compound as well. 

“You really think that people are going to buy into what... _young love_?” He says, the words pouring out of his mouth like honey despite their intended meaning. He must think this whole thing is ridiculous, too… right? 

“I’m saying it’s a powerful tool- a juicy headline that would be splashy enough to distract people from some of the finer details. If you believe in her, so will the world.” She leans her hands onto the table, leaning in and matching his tone with a sickly sweet smile as she stares him down. “You can do that for me, right Hori?” 

“I’m quite capable of holding a hand, yes. If you think this will work, I’m more than happy to do it.” He says, an easy, serene smile playing across his face. “As long as you’re in agreement, Lyssa.” 

“Um,” She starts, feeling heat rise in her cheeks as his glassy eyes hold hers. “Sure. Wh-whatever you think is best.” 

And then, for a split second, she sees him crack. The smile he tries to give her is pained at best- he covers it well, but Lyssa can still tell that it’s completely fabricated. It makes her heartbreak. 

He recovers so quickly though that Lyssa starts to doubt it even happened in the first place. Without missing a beat, he launches back into strategy mode, making more concrete plans for the event with Tasti as Lyssa sits dazed from her corner of the room. 

When she’s finally released, she’s too relieved to be worried about what it could mean. A room with every high-ranking White Lotus official, the head of public relations, and Hori- all the people who knew just how big a disappointment Lyssa was turning out to be- what could go wrong? Obviously, they were going to have _nothing_ but pleasant things to say. 

***

“That was remarkably mature, even for you.” Agomi says, catching up to him as the meeting ends and everyone starts heading back to the on-site residences. Hori doesn’t even attempt to mask his scowl, nor does he slow down his brisk pace. He didn’t really need to do either- Agomi could always see through his bullshit, and she was more than capable of keeping up with him. 

Besides Hori and Lyssa, Agomi was probably the youngest person allowed on the premises. This was perhaps the Lotus’s most secure location- even the outer guards had to prove their loyalty before they could procure an assignment as high ranking as this one. 6 years older than he was, Agomi had been allowed to live at the training center because her father was the current waterbending teacher. He was a complete master, and Agomi was just as fierce even in her youth. When her father died unexpectedly a couple of years ago, there wasn’t even a question as to who would take over for him. Unfortunately for Agomi though, her age often meant she was tasked with the unenviable position of dealing with any type of what the elders referred to as “teenage angst.” 

“I did what needed to be done. Nothing more.” He says, brushing off the unwanted compliment. Being _mature_ , or whatever it was he’d just been, was part of his job now. 

“I’m just saying- they’re expecting a lot from you.”

“And that’s a change?” Hori snaps. It’s not fair to her, he knows it isn’t, but if she really wanted to see what was going on with him then he’d show her. But why, _why_ , did everyone feel the need to pick at this scab? He’d taken time off, he’d come back of his own free will, and he was ready to contribute. So what if he wasn’t the avatar anymore? Neither was _anyone else_. Except the one, of course. 

He doesn’t even realize that he’s broken away from her with his pace till he hears her voice calling after him.

“ _Hey_. No one is expecting this change to happen overnight, you know that right?” She says, catching up easily and keeping her voice soft. “Just… go easy on yourself for a change, okay?” 

Yeah, right. 

When they finally arrive back at the residences, Hori notices a light flickering in the window. _Oh_ , he realizes with a sting, _her_. 

“Do I still live here?” He asks curtly, hoping to get this over with fast. If he’d been kicked out of his room, he could live with it, but he certainly didn’t feel like lingering on it. He could hardly expect them to have a second avatar suite prepared. In fact, he’s annoyed with himself for not having the forethought to put this together _before_ his arrival. 

“Okay- yes and no.” Agomi says with a slight grimace. Is this why she had been tailing him? Was this a situation she’d been told to handle? The thought burned Hori with embarrassment. As soon as he was certain he was numb to this whole situation it found a new way to nip at him. “They’ve reconfigured so there’s two separate living quarters.”

Hori can only roll his eyes. “You’re joking, right?”

“Like it or not, you’re still a minor- and an _asset_. This is the most secure location on the compound.” The worst part about the whole thing was that Hori had really believed they were going to stop treating him with kid gloves. He’d done _everything_ right, hadn’t he? He hadn’t been petulant or sulky or combative the way he was pretty sure he’d had every right to be. He wasn’t under the protection of the White Lotus anymore, he _was_ the White Lotus. That had been the only condition of his coming back. Agomi must sense his budding fury, so she cuts it off at the knees. “That decision is final, so I wouldn’t bother.” 

“You were a master at nineteen. I can’t even be trusted to handle my own living arrangements?” He spits, his emotions really starting to get the better of him in a way that he knew was ugly. He was lucky that his outburst was safe in the hands of Agomi, but it wasn’t something he could let himself make a habit of. 

“Yeah and you’re only _sixteen_ , Hori. Believe it or not, those are three pretty major years.” She says in the annoying _infinite-wisdom-holier-than-thou_ tone that all of Hori’s old teachers seemed to have mastered. He found it especially frustrating on her, considering their history. She really _was_ suited to this job. “Besides, boys' brains develop slower- that’s just a fact. Sorry, kid. You know how to find me if you need me.” 

Hori suppresses a groan as she disappears into the night and leaves him to his self-imposed torture. He wonders for the briefest of seconds why he had even decided to come back in the first place, but the thought doesn’t make it very far as he trudges through the front door and up the stairs. Usually, two guards were posted in two separate rooms on the lower level, and Hori had the upstairs to himself. Now the upper level had been sectioned off into two- split right down the middle with a new, makeshift hallway dividing the rooms. 

Lyssa hadn’t even bothered to close her door. Perhaps she had thought the room beside hers was eternally empty, or worse- she was hoping to catch him coming up. He treads lightly just in case, but quickly realizes it’s useless. When Lyssa finally comes into view, Hori can see that she’s staring blankly out her window, completely unaware of his presence. There’s a textbook laid open at her feet, a notebook propped on her lap, and a pen hanging out of her mouth as she sits there, motionless and lost in thought. _What a space cadet,_ Hori thinks to himself.

Just as he’s about to tear his eyes away and slink into his room, he notices one last detail- her sweater. He almost misses it because her small frame absolutely swims in the garment, distorting his perception. The once normal-sized piece of clothing now looked giant as the sleeves pooled around her wrists, covering all but her bare legs and the tips of her fingers. The charcoal grey sweater had been missing since his trip home, which he now realized was his own fault. He’d told them to take something of his if she needed it, but at the moment he hadn’t imagined they’d take his _favorite sweater_. It was comfortable and worn-in in all the right places, something he only wore at night or on the occasional travel day. Clearly she liked it too, and Hori couldn’t bring himself to charge into her room and demand it back the way he so desperately wanted to.

Just like most of the things in Hori’s life, it was hers now. 


End file.
